Saturday, 25 June 2016

A change in the weather has brought a few more moths to the garden trap with yesterday a Cypress Carpet, which was a new one for the garden list. This morning a Light Arches was the first for 6 years. Small Fan-foot and Udea olivalis were also new for the year.

Thursday, 23 June 2016

No moth trap last night due to rain. Made the weekly trip to Dunge today. Bright sunshine most of the day but generally quiet for birds. We started on ther ARC Pit where there were 13 Long-tailed Tits on the wires and bushes near the Pines and 2 Hobbies, a Cuckoo and 2 Egyptian Geese. Later in the day both Speckled and Great Green Bush-crickets were seen on the Willow Trail. In the latter's case it was not the final instar. My first Brown Hawker of the year was also noted. On the main part of the RSPB Reserve in the afternoon the Cattle Egret in summer plumage showed quite well but distantly with cattle on Hayfield 2. A Little Egret, 3 Hobbies and 2 Marsh Harriers were noted. There were also good numbers of Four-spotted Chasers and Common Blue Damselflies in the area plus 100s of Silver Y moths.

Wednesday, 22 June 2016

26 moths of 19 species this morning. New for the year were: Dark Arches, Middle-barred Minor and The Lychnis. Yesterday evening the Barn Owl showed well at Oare Marshes on both sides of the road at around 8.50.

Sunday, 19 June 2016

Just 4 moths yesterday in the trap and 5 this morning-more like March than June. However, despite gloomy skies I did make a short visit to East Blean Woods yesterday afternoon where, after some searching, I eventually saw 3 Heath Fritillaries for a couple of minutes before they vanished again. A Hornet obligingly landed on an old log.

Friday, 17 June 2016

A few more moths this morning, the best of which were Cream-bordered Green Pea, Mottled Beauty and Chequered Fruit-tree Tortrix. Yesterday I made my annual trip to Westbere and was fortunate to see 3 Norfolk Hawkers, 3 Hairy Dragonflies and 1 Scarce Chaser. Today I made the weekly trip to Dunge. Skies looked threatening and we had quiet a lot of rain after lunch. At the ARC pit there were a few of the long-horn moth Nemophora degeerella and 2 Hobbies. We spent the rest of the morning at the patch where we were rewared with 14+ Shearwaters lingering offshore. They were fairly distant but having watched them for about 20 minutes we concluded they were almost certainly Balearics. After lunch rain made things difficult but we did see a Spotted Redshank flying around the Hayfields on the RSPB Reserve, where about 10 Hobbies were also seen.

Tuesday, 14 June 2016

A few more moths this morning but nothing very interesting: Cochylis molliculana and Crambus lathionellus both new for the year. Made a short visit to Dover Western Heights around lunchtime today where, despite the wind. I saw about 6 Small Blue butterflies and 2 Mother Shipton moths.

Monday, 13 June 2016

National Moth Night was run over the 3 nights this weekend 10-12 June. Results here were generally disappointing, with just 32 species recorded (list below). Best records were Pale Oak Beauty which was my first for 5 years, Epinotia bilunana-the first for 4 years and Nematopogon schwarziellus which was new for the garden list.

Saturday, 11 June 2016

Made my weekly trip to Dunge yesterday. There were 2 Hobbies and a couple of Cuckoos at the ARC pit but things seemed very quiet. We tried the patch and the area immediately north of the old lighthouse but saw very little. Small Heath butterfly was my first of the year. After lunch we decided to head over to Rye Harbour to have a look at the terns and gulls there-pictures below.

Wednesday, 8 June 2016

The main feature of the moth trap this morning was the number of Diamond-back Moths. I counted 39 but an equal number flew away while emptying the contents and there were more in the garden. A Latticed Heath and Haworth's Pug were the most interesting of the rest. Yesterday afternoon I visited Bonsai Bank, Denge Wood near Canterbury, where the Duke of Burgundy Butterflies are finished now but I saw a couple of moth species: White-spotted Sable Moth and Burnett Companion. A tatty Dingy Skipper was also my first this year. On the walk back to the car, with thunder approaching, I noticed a couple of Glow-worms on the track which I've only seen before at dusk. A Little Owl posed on wires nearby.

Sunday, 5 June 2016

A more humid overcast night last night produced a few more moths in the trap this morning with 22 moths of 15 species. New for the year were White Ermine, Common Pug, May Highflyer, Setaceous Hebrew Character, Clepsis consimilana, and Ephestia unicolorella. Better than those I was pleased to see an Orange Footman, which is new for the garden and the first new macro of the year.

Saturday, 4 June 2016

We've reached the end of another month and the moth total for the year is 46 which compares unfavourably with 56 at the end of May last year. The only new species for the garden so far was the Spruce Seed Moth. This morning there were 13 Diamond-backs in the trap-part of huge influx in Eastern England with the 1st Mottled Rustic and Light Brocade of this year. Yesterday I spent another rather cold overcast day with occasional slight drizzle at Dunge. Despite being June there were very few insects about. At the ARC Pit 2 Cuckoos showed along the Willow Trail and there were good numbers of Hirundines and Swifts around. Two Hobblies were seen along the track to the Screen Hide. One was obviously finding life difficult. It was landing on the ground and in low bushes along the path-the first time I've ever seen a Hobby on the ground. We spent quite a bit of time at the patch where 2 Roseate Terns showed well before lunch and the "controversial" White-winged Gull showed well in the afternoon. More Hobby pictures in my Flickr site.

About Me

I have been running my 6W actinic Heath trap for 16 seasons now, and I am keen on macro-photography. Initially I used a Canon 550D with a Sigma 105mm macro lens, tripod and cable release, for garden moth pictures, but I now have a Canon 750D and a Canon 100mm L IS Lens. I also use a Canon 100-400 Lens for Bird photography but I have found it can be used for the larger insects too, sometimes with an extension tube.